Schools were closed throughout Stark County, nearly all blaming "freezing temperatures."

But the temperature was well below freezing.

And thanks to winds — and those expected — the air felt even colder.

At 7 a.m. when many students would likely be either at school bus stops or already heading to school, the temperature was 2 degrees below zero, winds were blowing out of the southwest at 9 mph and the resulting wind- chill was minus 18, according to the National Weather Service's website at www.erh.noaa.gov.

Now, more cold is on the way and, of course, snow — up to a half foot.

The weather service advisory noted that the wind chill readings may drop to 24 degrees below zero before the wind chill advisory expires about 1 p.m. Friday. But winds were expected to increase to between 20 and 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph, the weather service said. (The winter storm watch the weather service had issued was no longer in effect by Friday morning.)

The weather service-issued winter weather and wind chill advisories remained in place, with the winter weather advisory not set to expire until late Saturday night.

And snow was expected, with the chances listed at 100 percent for Friday night and Saturday ahead of anticipated snowfall leaving up to 6 inches.

The temperature was expected to reach 14 degrees Friday before falling to 13 degrees overnight, the weather service said. A high temperature of 21 degrees was in the forecast for Saturday, but the temperature Saturday night was expected to plummet again to zero.

And temperatures were expected to be even colder Monday night, when the actual temperature is expected to plummet to 10 degrees below zero, the weather service's extended forecast shows. The record low for Monday's date is minus 9 in 1936, and for Tuesday, minus 13 in 1977.

The forecast also shows that temperatures, after Monday, won't climb back into the double digits until at least Thursday.